With his term set to expire Jan. 19, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam announced Monday that he granted executive clemency to Cyntoia Denise Brown, 30, an African-American woman convicted of killing an abusive man, and commuted her life-sentence. She’s scheduled to be paroled Aug. 7, 2019, for the next 10 years.

During the medal ceremony after their 200-meter race at the Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Oct. 16, 1968, African-American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos partook in a very defiant act of social protest that immortalized them.

Last Thursday, Sept. 20, attorneys for former record executive Marion “Suge” Knight, 53, agreed to a plea deal that will sentence him to 28 years in prison when they return to court Oct. 4. He has remained incarcerated since the 2015 hit and run on the set of hip-hop super group NWA’s biopic, “Straight Outta Compton.”

During last Thursday’s (Black Aug. 30) presentation at Philadelphia’s Court of Common Pleas, attorneys for death row survivor Mumia Abu-Jamal successfully argued for another opportunity to present previously suppressed evidence and were granted a 60-day continuance by Judge Leon Tucker.

Although November is recognized as “Hip-Hop History Month” by many of the pioneers who laid the foundation for the Bronx-bred culture in November 1973, several months earlier, an 18-year-old Jamaican-born DJ was already hosting parties in the West Bronx.

Activists are urging the public to pack the courthouse Thursday, Black Aug. 30, at 1301 Filbert St., Philadelphia to demand that political prisoner-of-war Mumia Abu-Jamal be granted the opportunity to present evidence of his innocence that had previously been suppressed by a judge they contend had ulterior motives.

Tuesday, Aug. 21, numerous inmates in at least 21 cities across the country began one of the largest prison strikes in the history of the United States, in protest of inhumane living conditions they contend are reminiscent of “modern-day slavery.”

Shortly after Huey Newton and Bobby Seale established the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense in Oakland, Calif., during October 1966, the movement spread, eventually reaching New York during spring 1968.

Monday, May 21, Amsterdam News contributor Herb Boyd was bestowed with the Outstanding Career Achievement Award during the 2018 James Aronson Social Justice Journalism Awards at Hunter College’s Lang Recital Hall.

The life and legacy of urban warrior Sonny Abubadika Carson will be commemorated this Sunday in the People’s Republic of Brooklyn in acknowledgement of the 82nd anniversary of his physical birth. Although he joined the ancestors Dec. 20, 2002, his powerful influence is still felt today.

The courageous efforts of Civil Rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. garnered much attention this past Wednesday, in recognition of the 50th anniversary of his April 4, 1968, assassination in Memphis, Tenn., at age 39

Although some contend that it is rather difficult to find some semblance of success in the highly competitive, male-dominated white collar world of accounting, Carol A. McCrae is one woman who has beaten the steep odds.

After being denied seven previous times, political prisoner-of-war, Herman Bell, was granted parole Wednesday, March 14, when a New York State Board of Parole three-member panel unanimously agreed that his “debt has been paid to society.”

Still regarded as the greatest lyricist in hip-hop’s glorious history, Rakim Allah vented his views Tuesday, Feb. 13, via Twitter about the decaying state of the music genre he helped popularize and make a global phenomenon.

Friday, Feb. 21, 1965 marks the day a hit squad of cold-blooded assassins aired out the Audubon Ballroom stage, expiring the physical life of Black Nationalist advocate El Hajj Malik El Shabazz, aka Malcolm X, in full view of his pregnant wife, Betty, and four young daughters along with approximately 400 unsuspecting Organization of Afro-American Unity supporters.

“If you wish to move mountains tomorrow, you must start by lifting stones today.” Surely, astute historian Arthur Alphonso Schomburg must’ve had this African proverb in mind as he globetrotted, amassing millions of artifacts from throughout the Diaspora during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The world famous Apollo Theater, along with WNYC 93.9 FM, conducted a public panel on its historic stage this past Sunday afternoon commemorating the legacy of civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with a presentation titled “Apollo Uptown Hall: 50 Years After MLK—A Dream Deferred.” This event is part of the 12th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration.

As the nation prepares to commemorate the immeasurable achievements of courageous civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Monday, the 89th anniversary of his birth, a closer look is taken into how he grew from being known as a peaceful preacher to being one of the most feared Black men in America.

The contributions and legacies of several great African scholar warriors will be commemorated this weekend, concluding this Gregorian calendar year and introducing the next, most notably, the mentally liberating efforts of Dr. Chancellor Williams (born Dec. 22, 1898, in Bennettsville, S.C.), Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop (born Dec. 23, 1923, in Diourbel, Senegal) and Dr. Yosef Ben-Jochannan (born Dec. 31, 1918, in Gondar, Ethiopia).

In Philadelphia last weekend, dozens of activists and supporters commemorated the 36th anniversary of the shooting, serious wounding and, supporters say, unjust incarceration of Black Panther activist and grassroots journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal, with two days of events in the city of “brotherly love.”

Philadelphia police reported that on the morning of Tuesday, Nov. 28, in the 200 block of South 49th Street, they discovered the burnt corpse of a 15-year-old African-American girl named Sabriya McLean, who had been stabbed more than 80 times and set ablaze.

Concluding the singing of the national anthem at the Brooklyn Nets home opener against the Orlando Magic at the Barclay’s Center Friday evening, Oct. 20 Justine Skye utilized her platform in front of a nationally televised audience to heighten awareness regarding police terrorism and racial injustices her people endure daily, and knelt on the court.

In a pair of recent performances, superstar singer/songwriter Stevie Wonder utilized his high-profile platform to bring attention to the racial injustices that are so obvious in this country that even he can see them.

Five decades before Colin Kaepernick and the current crop of disgruntled NFL players utilized silent protest to bring international attention to the plight of Americanized Africans in the land of the free, U.S. Olympians Tommie Smith and John Carlos seized a moment in time to be eternally etched in the annals of Black Power history. This past Monday marked the 49th anniversary of one of the most incendiary acts of protest committed by athletes.

The Nation of Islam commemorated the 22nd anniversary of their historic Million Man March, which occurred in Washington, D.C., Oct. 16, 1995, with a forum at Newark, N.J.’s Symphony Hall. Their leader, Minister Louis Farrakhan, echoed much of the powerful speech of his spiritual father and former NOI head, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, delivered at Harlem’s 369th Armory Aug. 27, 1961, titled “Separation or Death.”

In late 1994 the United Nations declared Aug. 9 as International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples and four years prior, Berkeley, Calif., had already become the first U.S. city to replace Columbus Day. Last month Los Angeles joined Denver, Minneapolis, Phoenix and Seattle, among other cities, in recognizing Indigenous Peoples’ Day. And this Oct. 5, Austin, Texas, did the same.

Greg Abbott, a Caucasian cop in Cobb County, Ga., notified his department last Thursday that he was resigning, after being threatened with termination after local TV station WSB-TV aired a video the previous day of him making some racist remarks.

The immeasurable legacy of Pan-African forefather Marcus Mosiah Garvey will be commemorated this Thursday, the 130th anniversary of his birth in St. Ann’s Bay, Jamaica, with a host of activities throughout the metropolitan area.

Although November is recognized as “Hip-Hop History Month” by many of the pioneers who laid the foundation for the culture up in the Bronx during November 1973, several months before that, an 18-year-old Jamaican-American DJ was already hosting parties at 1520 Sedgwick Ave. His record collection and sound system was so astounding that no other DJs could compare.

Four decades after the MOVE 9 were imprisoned in what many contend was an unjust frame-up case, supporters of the Philadelphia-based MOVE Organization packed Brooklyn’s House of the Lord Church (415 Atlantic Ave.) this past Saturday afternoon to attend the “39 Years Too Long: Free the MOVE 9” seminar.

What several political analysts had predicted before his takeover of the Oval Office this past January may become a reality sooner than many had anticipated—the impeachment of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Ever since 1971, during the second weekend of June, the Harlem-based Five Percenters aka the Nation of Gods and Earths acknowledge their annual accomplishments during the anniversary of the assassination of their founder Allah, the Father, with their Show & Prove event.